Success story on transformer rental for critically important compressor drive
End of last year our company had the opportunity to rent the VFD transformer to support an important European production plant of a global chemical company. This case has proven our capital spare transformer concept. Learn our success story on transformer rental: How we helped our customer to keep up the production in such extraordinary situation.
How MB Drive Services helped to prevent larger production outage
At the beginning of December 2021 we were contacted by major global chemical company. In one of their European production sites they experienced a severe failure of a converter transformer. The transformer supplies the rectifier of VFD which in turn feeds an electric motor driving a turbo-compressor. With the transformer being damaged the whole drive system was down. As the grid voltage and machine voltage do not match, a direct on-line operation was no alternative in this case. Without any suitable spare transformer unit the customer would have to wait several months until the damaged transformer is repaired or a new transformer is manufactured and tested. The economical consequences would be tremendous in such scenario…
Luckily, our company was able to lend a hand. We have found a perfect match. Our capital spare rental transformer fulfilled all requirements of the VFD manufacturer. Moreover, our unit matched the type of installation and specific requirements on site.
What we did
After initial contact with the client we have swiftly clarified all necessary technical and commercial items. Once the technical feasibility was confirmed, the “project planning” was started.
Our scope of services included:
- Transformer inspection and testing prior to shipment
- DAP delivery to site (oversize transport)
- Cargo monitoring with impact recorder
- Customs services related to export
The unloading, installation on site and commissioning was performed by the client himself with support from a local installation company. Also, the transformer was once again tested before energization (insulation resistance measurement etc) and results were compared with those measured prior to the shipment. The testing just confirmed that the rental transformer is in a perfect shape and ready for the service.
Timeline of the transformer rental
The period between receiving a purchase order from customer and receiving transformer on site was 10 days. Thereof 4 days account for the transport itself (including weekend) and custom clearance at the border.
Considering that it was in December 2021, another wave of COVID-19 was peaking in Europe, logistics was heavily impacted and the Christmas season was approaching the total 10 days are fairly good result. In future we aim to further reduce this time to approx. 7 days. Alternatively, the customer can arrange transport by himself. In such case we can expedite the transformer in 3 to 4 days.
Perfect technical match
Having the right design of a rental transformer is a challenge. There are many project specific variables such as:
- Grid voltage
- Converter voltage
- Rated power
- Installation restrictions
- Environmental conditions
- Other
Without exaggerating our capital spare transformer was a perfect technical match. The voltages, the short circuit impedance, the enclosure… everything was just right. Our rental transformer is on site for more than 6 months by now and works as intended.
Years of experience in the field of variable frequency drives enabled us to design the capital spare transformer exactly for cases like this one. Our solution seamlessly replaced the original transformer that experienced a major failure. We have saved the customer several months of an unplanned downtime. It is a true success story on transformer rental.
Lesson learned
As we all know, transformers belong to very reliable equipment. We can prove it based on our own experience as the requests for capital spare transformer are very rare. However, even the most reliable device can fail one day. In this case it was after almost 21 years of faithful operation. And then it came. Unexpected, sudden…
The scenario of a transformer failure shall not be neglected. Finding a quick replacement is extremely difficult. VFD transformers are not ‘of-the-shelf’ type and procuring such unit takes several months (especially in these days with disrupted supply chain). Luckily, our company is filling this gap. We help the users to keep the mission critical systems running.
Capital spare concept
Transformers have mean time between failure (MTBF) in the range of several hundred years. Thus, most VFDs will not experience any transformer issue during their lifetime. But when it happens, the consequences are severe. Repair of the faulty transformer may take few weeks. For example, if one of the coils is damaged, the production of a new coil may easily take 6 to 16 weeks weeks depending on design, current factory loading etc. Additional factors, such as material shortages as witnessed in these days, further increase the lead times. Moreover, the transformer may be damaged beyond repair and entire new transformer needs to be produced. That takes few months.
In such situations a capital spare transformer is a valuable asset. While having a capital spare for each transformer of your fleet is certainly an overkill, it is good to have a backup for mission critical equipment. Moreover, such service can be outsourced. Considering the low probability of a failure one capital spare unit can cover multiple drive systems. That is precisely what MB Drive Services offer.
Do you want to know if we have a solution for your drive system as well? Then hit the button below and fill in a short questionnaire. You will figure out whether we could potentially make similar success story on transformer rental for your specific case.
References
[1] Capital spare transformer – A valuable asset, https://mb-drive-services.com/capital-spare-transformer-a-valuable-asset/
[2] What are the benefits of transformer rental service? https://mb-drive-services.com/what-are-the-benefits-of-transformer-rental-service/
